Liam wanted to skip lunch, he wanted to give excuses on why he couldn't be there. But he knew it would be a disastrous first impression. Hell would break loose — or at least begin to boil from within — if he missed lunch. Liam was soon to learn that Ethan hadn't returned to America alone. He had come with his mom, Rhoda Hemsworth, a woman of Israeli descent. She was having her rest in her room on the third floor. Ethan hadn't had any rest and wasn't surprised; his stepbrother was a laughing ant in a pan. Brilliantly hyperactive.When Liam came to stand by the door, he watched with mixed feelings as Elena was already smiling at Ethan. That was quick, he thought."Hi, brother," Liam said, smiling and extending a hand. "It's good to see you again."Ethan had a tight smile as he took his hand. "You were fixing some things with the chauffeur?"Liam quickly glanced at Elena whose lower lip twitched in apology."Ah, yes," he said. "He was giving me a rundown of a slight issue with the car."
Ethan was the opposite of his brother, Liam, Elena noticed. It was barely two weeks after his arrival, and there had been three parties in the house, one of them involving the whole relatives. Even Mr Paul, who Elena thought never laughed, was over himself with smiles and silly remarks at Ethan's jokes and energy. Not once did Mr Griffin grab Ethan's shoulders or swing a drunk arm over his neck, and exclaim, "Now this is what we're talking about!"The house was always brimming with the sound of Ethan's voice. He made new friends, entertained old ones who came calling. Loud music was never absent in his room. The maidservants were always on the move. Ethan rolled out dollar bills to the guards and maidservants at random, winning their smiles and reverence. Strange girls entered and left the house.His mother would stand by him during these, grinning warmly. The smile of a proud mother. His father would only smile and pass by to his business.Liam was always absent in these parties.El
"SMITH?!" Elena's voice boomed around the living room of her father's house.Chelsea sat there on the sofa facing Elena, filing her nails. Her stomach was still flat, but it was clear she had taken in. Jennifer was seated away from them, her fingers tapping away on her laptop, a headset over her ears. Their mother was out to a yoga class, and their father stood at the door, his hands planted on his hips. "Answer me, Chelsea," Elena shouted again. "Is it the Smith I know or another guy altogether?""I'm not happy with this questioning," Chelsea grumbled."Shut your mouth!" their father thundered. "I don't believe you could still speak even after this rubbish.""Dad, what rubbish are you talking about?" Chelsea retorted. "When has it become a crime to get pregnant for a man you cherish?"Elena's face cracked up in laughter. The thoughts of how probable this situation was flickered around Elena's mind.Smith and Chelsea weren't total strangers. Few weeks after Elena and Smith began to d
Liam was solemnly sitting behind his desk in his office when his reinstated secretary called to tell him he had a visitor. It was almost 4 p.m. and Liam planned to go home early."Tell the visitor to return tomorrow; I am closed for the day," he said.There was a hesitation from her side, before she said, "It's Charlie, your friend.""Tell him I said I'm closed for the day," Liam retorted, setting the phone down with a loud thud.Did Charlie think Liam was a fool all this while? It had been over a month now and this was the first time Charlie was coming to him, after that incident with Mr Parkwood and his granddaughter."What nonsense," he snapped.He had scarcely recollected himself when his phone buzzed. The secretary again."Can I be at peace for once?" he shouted into the receiver. "Tell the motherfucker to leave, I said.""Sir, it's another visitor," she said. "A woman."Liam glanced at his watch. "Does she bring business?""Yes, sir. She's been coming for a while now.""If that'
Elena laid on her bed, and closed her eyes. But she was far from getting comfort. The gold chandelier hovered above her, silently, like a lone bird which was sad, too, just as Elena was.The black box clock beside her bed had "7:00 PM" in large red letters. Elena watched it, wondering how it felt to be happy again, to be at peace with oneself.From a flat oval device hidden somewhere in her room, a sad melancholic tune seeped out, clouding her mind. How the hell was this device always able to detect her mood and play tunes accordingly?She sat up, and stared at the screaming luxury of her room, the millions in her bank accounts and the luxurious life open for her. How then was her heart pulsing in great agony? How wasn't money the solution to this stuff? Why were the troubles of her life eating deep into her fabric of peace?She had just concluded a call with Rosa, and the latter had gone on and on, enlisting the good news of her life so far: Her
"Mr Packwood runs a cult, and calls it his bodyguards," Charlie said as he sat on the couch, a bottle of cold beer in his hand. "He said he entrusted them all with his life, because they had — we had — gone into a devilish pact with him. We know all of his secrets. Even the ladies rubbing oil all over his thighs. They know he's a devil."He looked Liam over, who was listening too hard to this tale."I'm not saying this so you go and fight him," Charlie said. "It's their family shit. And if the police does nothing, it shouldn't bother you.""That's bullshit," Liam retorted, shaking his head. "I almost lost my life because of this man's trickery. There ain't no way I'm letting him go free with this."Charlie leaned forward, his eyes earnest and pleading. "Liam, listen to me. I know I've told too many lies and done lots of shits, and you don't trust me anymore. But listen to me this one last time."He dropped the bottle and clasped his hands
It was two days after Liam's fight with his bodyguard that Elena gathered enough courage to go back to the track of her initial plan: the elimination of Smith. Well, elimination was a strong word, but she loved the way it sounded in her mind.Now that Luke was walking around the mansion, sulking, and with a cross plaster on his nose, Elena didn't know who else to turn to. Chris was too strict and too loyal to Liam to lead his wife into such a dangerous adventure.By the way, since the incident with Luke, the other guards — including most of the maidservants — began to avoid Elena like a plague. They would only spit out their greetings, not looking her way, and then look for holes to hide. No one wanted to seem flirty with the boss's wife.Sometimes it was funny, other times it wasn't. Elena didn't want to be seen as such a person. But it was inevitable. Liam's love over her was so large and overwhelming that forces trembled in its presence.Elena
Liam floated in the swimming pool, the one tucked in the back of the mansion, away from the prying eyes of Ethan's endless stream of visitors.Even though the pool water was temperate enough to calm a suicidal man, Liam felt unsettled. He couldn't stop reminiscing about three days ago, when he was summoned by his father...***The room was darker than it should have been. His father sat in a shadowed part of the room, while Liam, and his brother sat on sofas, lit up with light. There was a prevailing silence, and even Liam, who had the impatience of a Gemini, sat still and waited for whatever his father had to say to him.Liam knew he was in trouble. Striking a bodyguard was an act of carelessness and indiscipline. And he was about to pay for it. Liam could only but wonder what his punishment would be. Whatever it was, he was willing to accept. Because the anger still burned in him; maybe a damn punishment would cool him down."What have you done, Liam?" his father's voice finally br
Liam listened to Ethan's lawyer speak. There was a dying flicker of hope in his voice. He had long lost the battle, and the jurors weren't listening to him anymore. But he tried his last weapon: appeal for leniency.And for the record, not long ago, Ethan had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, and a wave of terror and silence had coursed through the hundreds of people gathered there.In the offender's box Ethan stood, a shadow of his former self. It was a week since his arrest. And even though his mother, through his plea and Liam's mercy, had been set free on bail, Ethan couldn't get his doom over his head. Liam watched him closely, at his overgrown beards, his unkempt hair, the blood in his eyes. "Your honor," the counsel said, "I understand the seriousness of my client's crime, and I do not condone it. However, I would like to ask for leniency in sentencing. My client has no previous criminal record, and I believe that a sentence of 25 years is excessive. A reduced sen
After the incident with Plum, she became a ghost in the mansion. Elena looked everywhere for her, casually sent other maids to find her, but Plum was always where they had not been.When a maid said she heard her crying in a restroom situated in the basement, Elena ran to the basement. When she got there, the crying had stopped. There was a deep silence. "Break the door open!" Elena shouted with a sense of dread and urgency.The maid went for it, but the door wasn't locked. She opened it and Plum was not there anymore. But Elena had the gut feeling that she was still around there, somewhere."Look, Plum, I know you can hear me," Elena called out, "Whatever game you think you are playing, whatever stunt you want to pull by this shit, would not work. Not in my house. Okay?"She was met with even deeper silence. Her anger built up. "If you want to go crazy, my dear, you can send in your resignation letter, and I'll see you off to the gates myself! Then you can wield your insanity to its
"I don't know how to describe how happy I am," Liam said, "hearing you're pregnant."Elena frowned, as she remembered something. "No, boo, you certainly knew what you were doing. Why didn't you let us have sex all this while?"She saw Liam frown. "Oh, really? I didn't really think about it that way. I was only having fun." He turned to her. "You wanted a baby, too?""I guess as at then," she said, "I didn't. It's all changed now. Then, I only wanted to enjoy this" — she reached out to touch and caress his flaccid dick lying on his belly — "to the fullest. Wanted to suck out every juice you could ever produce.""Eww, I don't produce juice," Liam laughed. "You do.""Let's see who gives the juice first!"she declared, sitting up. Liam was grinning too, perhaps wondering how he got so lucky with a wife who was both an introvert and a sexual creative."What are you trying to do?" he asked, feigning suspicion."How would you like your blowjob? Fast and aggressive, or slow and deep.""This lo
When Liam told Elena to go upstairs, so he would handle his family, she was filled with dread. Not by what the family would to to her as revenge, but for what Liam would do to them. There was so much anger and bitterness in his voice. His eyes were dark and revengeful.And when she passed through their midst, her heart beat with doubled pace. In her room, she couldn't sit quietly. She peeked from the window, saw her husband raving, commanding so much power that even the birds in the sky didn't as much as flicker their wings.She didn't hear some of what was what said, but she picked out the key phrases. And she couldn't help but marvel at the extent her husband was ready to go in his revenge.Not once did she try to interfere, by either calling him on phone to interrupt him, or call his name from the balcony. But she held her reins. Their altercation skyrocketed to a climax, when the gates opened and police sirens filled the air. The police cars rolled into the compound, and everyone
"Liam, you cannot do this to your brother!" Ethan's mother shouted the moment Liam stepped out of the car. "You cannot claim to love him and do this wicked thing to him.""Is he even listening to you?" Mr Paul asked. "He doesn't even remember who you are, talk more of Ethan."Liam allowed his eyes skim through the men and women gathered in front of his mansion. It was just as Chris told. They weren't even sitting. Only his father, whose health was seriously on the decline, was on a chair just behind them, smoking a pipe.Mr Paul spoke again about Liam. "See how he mopes listlessly? I tell you, what he should work on firstly is recovering —""Every dime you all have looted from my company while I was away," Liam cut in, blending in so well that the effect of his statement was an astounded silence.They didn't respond for a while. Maybe they thought not responding would help prove how much of a clueless man Liam was. But Liam had this all prepared. "Hey, El," Liam said to his wife besi
Elena saw the flash from behind Luke. It happened so fast. First, a clean hole on the roof appeared, accentuated by a flash of light. Something metallic hit a pan, bounced off and went through Luke's stomach. Elena heard the bullet — or whatever it was — wheeze past her ear. Her hairs stood on edge.Before her, Luke still stood with his penis in his hand, but a new hole on his chest. He didn't fall immediately, but when there were movements from the roof, he did fall.Elena saw them descend like black angels from the rooftop, or anywhere they might have come from. They were clothed in black, regaled in darkness. Their eyes were flashes of stealth, precision and ruthlessness. In their hands were stout guns, poised to end in a instant the life of anyone who tried to play smart. The red dots of their targets were everywhere on Ethan and his men's clothes. Ethan had more dots."Freeze," a voice said again. "We shall not hesitate to kill whoever moves a muscle."Ethan yelped and tried to
"You see what's inside?" Ethan asked."Ethan, what is the meaning of this?" Liam asked through the phone."I asked, what is inside!""An agreement for transfer of ownership, Liam whispered."That's right. I want you to sign the paper and place it back into the case. I'll get the notification here if that has been done."There was a prolonged silence from Liam's side. Ethan idly shook his feet which were propped on a table. Then he looked to his right to see Elena, tied to a chair. She had long stopped crying now, and all that left her throat was a hollow moan.Ethan motioned to Luke and the four other men who were with him in that underground. "Take the gag off her mouth," he ordered.Liam heard this, and reacted immediately. "You gagged my wife?!" he shouted. "Ethan, you had the temerity to put a gag on Elena's mouth?"Ethan chuckled. "Oh. Look who's hurt and shaky. But that's not even all." He glanced over to see Elena immediately double up to throw up. Ethan smiled and turned back
Liam sat there, gasping, and moving his head back and forth. A lot was going on in his brain, in his mind and heart. He could feel each throb, bringing back with it a cascade of memories."Where's Elena?" he asked himself, remembering he had a wife, who he had been treating like trash. She was right, after all! Liam's hands began to shake against the wheel. The world seemed to slow down around him."Where are Charlie, Olive and James?"The name Charlie stuck to his mind. Charlie. The last image he remembered of him was when he was down on the alley, being pumped by bullets, shaking.He had done that to save him.Liam swallowed and glanced away. The tears that streamed from his eyes had become heavy. Flowing from the depth of his soul. His nose ran freely.Charlie had given himself for him.Liam's thoughts were violently interrupted by a blast on his windshield. He turned to see his chasers lined up shoulder to shoulder, their guns raised to their eyes. They began to fire bullets on L
Liam stared at the man standing before him, anger and frustration in Liam's face. Something was seeping into his brain. He was trying hard to remember who the man was. And he was so close to it!"Here are pictures of us," Charlie said, showing him a screen full of pictures. Liam recognized himself in the pictures. But the man next to him... Good heavens.They were standing under the shade of a random tree in the streets. Liam had no idea how Charlie had found him there. Liam was about concluding his arrangements for the soldiers to go arrest Ethan. "I'm trying," Liam finally admitted. "I do recognize myself, but it is like looking into a photoshopped picture. I can't explain how this is happening."Charlie's face was kind. "I understand. The doctor gave us a forewarning, so I really understand. You're already doing great. I just want to be by your side.""Why?" Liam asked."Because the men who had tried to killer you are back again."Liam's eyebrows crinkled. "What sre you talking ab